Pencil Treatment
Have you ever heard about the “pencil treatment”? If not, you’re not alone. I didn’t know what pencil treatment was either until today during a lunch meeting with a couple of good friends, one of whom is an accomplished surgeon.
“The pencil treatment,” my surgeon friend said, ” is placing a pencil in between my fingers and squeezing it hard when mom noticed that I was drifting off in doing my reading assignment.”
“Ouch!” I said.
“Well, it was so painful that from an early age I learned to spend my time efficiently – get the job done well the first time .
“So you can play.” his wife finished for him. For most of us, we wouldn’t dare to think about such thing as the “pencil treatment”, let alone using or coming up with one. (who knows what Dr. Spock would say!) One can’t help but think of this surgeons courage and his mother who made a lifelong contribution to her son. She taught him the best way she knew how and was rewarded with seeing her son reach his full potential. I don’t believe in corporal punishment or that the end justifies the means, but you do have to wonder “have we gone too soft when it comes to tough love” as a whole generation?
Yet one can’t help